SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket sends Starlink satellites to space from a California launch pad. (SpaceX via Twitter/X) The first satellites capable of providing direct-to-cellular service via SpaceX’s Starlink network and T-Mobile’s cellular network have been sent into orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Six of the cell-capable satellites were among a batch of 21 Starlink satellites launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 7:44 p.m. PT Tuesday. The satellites were deployed successfully, and the rocket’s first-stage booster made a routine landing on a drone ship in the Pacific Oc ..read more

United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket lifts off with two prototype Amazon satellites on Oct. 6. (ULA Photo) If 2022 was packed with headline-grabbing aerospace developments — including the first pictures from the James Webb Telescope and the first launch of NASA’s giant moon rocket — 2023 was what you might call a rebuilding year. This year began with high hopes for aerospace companies with a significant presence in the Seattle area, ranging from Boeing to Blue Origin to SpaceX. A lot of those hopes had to be put on hold, basically because everything in the space industry takes longer than e ..read more

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launches a set of Starlink satellites on Nov. 27. Amazon has struck a deal to use Falcon 9 rockets for some of its Project Kuiper satellites as well. (SpaceX Photo) Amazon’s Project Kuiper may be a competitor for SpaceX’s Starlink satellite broadband network, but business is business: Amazon says it has signed a contract for three launches of Project Kuiper satellites on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, supplementing scores of launches reserved on bigger rockets that haven’t yet made their debut. “The additional launches with SpaceX offer even more capacity to support our dep ..read more

Walter Isaacson, left, spent two years with Elon Musk for the new biography. You might not know it from his recent comments, but there was a time in the late-1990s when Elon Musk was a fan of Bill Gates and Microsoft. During his tenure at PayPal, Musk once challenged its then-chief technology officer, Max Levchin, to a literal arm-wrestling match in a bid to get the company’s engineers to adopt Windows NT over Unix. Musk prevailed in the contest, and ultimately won the operating system argument, as well, recounts Walter Isaacson in his new biography of the Tesla and SpaceX CEO and X (Twitter ..read more

Amazon plans to have satellites sent into orbit by (from left) United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan-Centaur rockets, Blue Origin’s New Glenn rockets and Arianespace’s Ariane rockets. ULA’s Atlas V rockets are also in the mix — but not SpaceX’s rockets, at least for now. (Amazon Illustration) An Ohio-based pension fund has filed a lawsuit alleging that Amazon didn’t give due consideration to SpaceX as a potential launch provider for its Project Kuiper broadband internet satellite constellation, which is a rival for SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network. The lawsuit, filed by the Cleveland Bakers and T ..read more

Coby Cotton and Steve Young gaze at Earth during a Blue Origin suborbital spaceflight in August 2022. (Blue Origin Photo) NASA says it will collaborate with Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture on the development of new space transportation capabilities that will provide high-frequency access to low Earth orbit for astronauts and cargo. The project is one of seven selected for the second round of NASA’s Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities initiative, or CCSC-2. The first round began in 2014. All of the companies involved in CCSC-2 will work with NASA under the terms of unfunded S ..read more

Axiom Space crew members Rayyanah Barnawi, John Shoffner, Peggy Whitson and Ali Alqarni discuss their mission during their nine-day stay on the International Space Station. (NASA via Axiom Space) The second crew to be sent into space as a profit-making proposition for Texas-based Axiom Space came back to Earth tonight in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule after spending nine days on the International Space Station. The Ax-2 trip came a year after Axiom’s first crewed space mission, and marked several firsts: Former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson became the first woman to command a private-sector space ..read more

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket rises from its launch pad, sending four astronauts into space. (Axiom Space via YouTube) SpaceX and Axiom Space teamed up today to send four spacefliers — including the first Saudi woman in orbit — to the International Space Station for a 10-day trip focusing on zero-gravity research. SpaceX’s two-stage Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 5:37 p.m. ET (2:37 p.m. PT) at the end of a trouble-free countdown, sending a Crew Dragon capsule toward a space station rendezvous. After stage separation, the Falcon 9’s first-stage booster flew ..read more

SpaceX employees in Redmond, Wash., give a cheer during the countdown to a Starlink satellite launch in 2019. Thousands of Starlink satellites have been built in Redmond. (SpaceX via YouTube) REDMOND, Wash. — This Seattle-area suburb has played a role in the space industry for more than a half-century, but the city of Redmond is shining brighter than ever on the final frontier — and now it has the brand name to prove it. Welcome to the Redmond Space District. Redmond Mayor Angela Birney showcased the newly established district in a proclamation issued today during her annual State of the City ..read more

Lynk Global has demonstrated its satellite-to-smartphone network in Mongolia. (Lynk Global Illustration) The Federal Communications Commission plans to set up a new regulatory framework for facilitate hookups between satellite operators and wireless companies, with the objective of connecting smartphone users in remote or underserved areas of the world. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, adopted today, follows up on a string of demonstrations and announcements related to satellite-cellular combinations. A Virginia-based company called Lynk Global has already shown that its satellite-to-smartph ..read more